Friday, August 31, 2012

I love getting to the Thunder Mountain Studio* early in the morning. Lisa and I have been chatting on the drive here but we are silent as we enter and get to work opening the windows and doors, she does the left side of the room, I take the right. We step out onto the covered porch area on the side of the building and prepare the tables and electrical cords for the two heat presses. Together we carry the heavy machines to their places, one, two, three, lift, and flip the switches on.

Returning inside we organize the classroom and materials for the day,
Lisa reviewing her lesson plan and samples while I clear my table and
mix up some new dye colors. Misty rain falls outside, called a wet soft in Ireland, Lisa told me on the way here. It looks a bit like Ireland out there—luscious, green and wet.

Yesterday afternoon Lisa demonstrated a couple of Shibori dyeing techniques. Shibori is a Japanese word for a method of dyeing cloth by binding, stitching, folding or twisting it. The folds, stitches, etc. create tight places (resists) that restrict the flow of dye and create lovely patterns. If you ever tie-dyed a tee shirt then you’ve done shibori. On the one hand, an artist could spend a life-time studying Shibori
techniques and never learn it all. On the other, it is an extremely
accessible technique that produces great results. (Admit it, you loved
that tee shirt.)

Itajime (pronounced eeta-gee-may) Shibori is the folding
kind. Last night I made a few sample bundles, which hopefully are dry
now and can be set as soon as the presses warm up.

One of the many benefits of attending a workshop is the chance to experiment with something new in a safe environment—I’m not trying to make Art here, I’m learning, I’m practicing. This is good for me—I can tell my inner perfectionist to wait outside (in the rain!) and while I’m not sure how I will incorporate this process into my work when I get back to the studio, I don’t need to know all the answers today. I can relax and enjoy what develops.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

I should be concentrating on what workshop instructor, Lisa Grey, is saying about mixing dye, but all I can think about are the ticks. Yes, ticks, as in Deer Ticks, the kind that carry Lyme’s disease. I am in New Jersey at Peters Valley Craft Center attending a workshop called, Disperse Dyes: Reinventing the Wheel. I’m here at Lisa’s invitation as her guest and also because this is what I do. I make art using Disperse Dyes, a class of dyes specially formulated to work in tandem with synthetic fabrics to produce vivid, detailed and exciting results. Lisa and I are among a handful of professional artists using these dyes, which are employed primarily and extensively in industry. I’ve taken many classes from Lisa, been her workshop assistant, and over the years we have become good friends, but still, I’m not paying attention to her. I keep thinking of the ticks. How many do you suppose there are between here and the car?

This being the first morning of the five day workshop we started with an orientation lecture from Fran, temporary assistant and knower of all things Peters Valley. She brought up the ticks, or maybe I asked about them, and said we should take precautions, like tucking your pant legs into your socks, wearing light colored clothing and bug spray containing DEET, as well as checking yourself every night for the tiny, pinhead size beasts. Don’t worry, she said, the local medical center is well aware of the situation and ready to treat anyone who develops symptoms (a bullseye rash, fever, nausea). I take a deep breath in an attempt to remain calm, but unfortunately the discussion doesn’t end there. It seems everyone has their favorite Lyme’s Disease story: someone’s roommate had it three times in one summer, a friend got it five years ago and still hasn’t recovered. It goes on, each person sharing until we get to, “my friend used to teach classes here, she and her husband came every summer. One year he contracted Lyme’s Disease, they tried to treat it but he died. She’s coming here to have lunch with me today, so please don’t mention it, you know, while she’s here.”

Making Art Makes a Difference

At that moment Lisa calls the class to order and begins instructing us how to mix the dyes. She demonstrates the proper technique of using the enclosed and ventilated dye booth, the scale, dye to water ratio…she knows there are beginners in the class so she is careful, explaining each step as she goes. After she finishes mixing the first color she says, “Okay, now everyone will get a chance to mix a color, Jennifer, would you like to do the next one?” I look up, startled by the sound of my name, and Lisa smiles at me. “Of course,” I say, “I’d be happy to.” All thoughts of ticks, illness and death fly away from my brain as I move toward the dye box. A sense of peace invades. I can do this. Five luxurious days of making art lie ahead. I’m ready. I’ll worry about finding someone to carry me to the car later.

Day One

We mixed a bright yellow and a buttercup, orange, red, flame scarlet, turquoise, blue, cool black and navy. Of course, one could make an orange from mixing red and yellow, turquoise from blue and yellow, but these colors are sold already mixed in the dye powder form.

Each batch of the same color dye can vary due to things like temperature, water composition, and mixing conditions so dye stock colors should be tested first thing—it makes mixing easier if you know where you are starting. Here, the work table is set with dyes, thickener, water and tools. You can see the grass parking lot I was worried about in the background.

Our first day Lisa covered each work table with a different surface: cloth, newspaper, heavy yellow paper, and a length of white kraft paper. We each mixed a color, any color, no testing, everybody just guessed, and selected a brush or mark making tool. We circled the tables one at a time making marks as we went. These papers and cloth may become elements used in future compositions.

After our collaborative exercises, we worked on our own, mixing colors we will work with the next couple of days and experimenting with the different markmaking tools available. I especially love the circular marks made by an antique whisk one of the participants brought. I need to find one for myself!

At the end of the day I can hardly remember my anxiety from this morning. I am awed by this beautiful sunset as I trudge across the grass to the car—tired, fulfilled and unworried about ticks, or anything else, for that matter. Once again, art has rescued me and nature has redeemed herself.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

If you count houses, studios, apartments, and storage units I’ve moved eleven times since 2010, six of them in the last six months. Not surprisingly, I’ve been having difficulty keeping track of all that has happened. I decided to take a page, or maybe it’s a post, out of friend, and fellow artist, Megan Chapman’s excellent blog and write a recap of the last few months. Megan is a believer in the power of a periodic review and has repeatedly encouraged me to go through this exercise. Why do I balk and fuss and procrastinate? How hard could it be to list all the exciting things that have happened recently? Good question. In the best of times it is easy to get discouraged and think, oh, I’m not making any progress, my work doesn’t really matter, or my personal favorite, what was I thinking? Those are the usual self-doubts of any creative person and they are magnified under stress. Many wonderful things have happened in the last six months, but as with every life there have been shadows around the edges—for every win there was a loss or two—sadness, illness, disappointment have made their appearances. So every memory contains some difficult moments but I’m making the choice to believe that every moment we are alive is a moment for which to be grateful so today I want to chronicle some of the triumph’s and successes that have been part of my extraordinary journey.

In January I moved from Northwest Arkansas to Kansas City, Missouri and went looking for studio space. In February I signed a lease on my new studio in the Hobbs Building, located in the West Bottoms neighborhood of Kansas City, it is an old furniture warehouse that has been converted into six floors of artist’s studios, a printmaking studio and even an art school. The artists in the building hold two open houses a year, the next one being October 20th and 21st, 2012. You are all invited! Of course, if you are ever in the Kansas City area, there’s no need to wait, just contact me here if you’d like a studio tour.

With a lot of help, I moved all my supplies and tools into the new studio, and promptly left for Europe.

I used to design housewares products, mainly kitchen tools and gadgets. I “retired” a few years ago but was lured back into the fray, bribed, really, with a trip to Frankfurt, Germany to attend Ambiente, the largest international housewares show, and a side trip to Porto, Portugal to visit both a cork factory and a dinnerware manufacturer.

Somehow working, when one is in Europe, doesn’t really feel like working. It was exciting to scout new trends, see old friends, and feel a part of the big picture again. This time, since my focus has been on art and not product for awhile, I was able to see things with fresh eyes and I found myself dreaming of possible projects that might combine the two. It was an inspiring and magical trip, which is good because when I returned I really had to get busy.

The rest of February and all of March were spent in the new studio working on my solo exhibition, Rubicon. This intense creative time, fueled by a tight deadline was a welcome respite from the chaos of moving boxes and organizing the new apartment. The first weekend in May I delivered Rubicon to the Art Center of the Ozarks in Springdale, Arkansas. I was thrilled that so many people attended the opening reception and expressed interest in my new work.

In June I returned to Northwest Arkansas for an art filled week. On First Thursday I participated in an exciting exhibition called east prospect. Artists Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner transformed her house into a gallery for the evening. They removed all the art from the walls, put away most of the personal items and stored some of the furniture creating an intimate and delightful venue for the work of ten artists.

Later in the week I had the honor of attending a party thrown by one of my collectors. She was eager to have me see the two pieces she purchased from my Don’t Forget to Breathe exhibition installed in the guest suite. It was a lovely evening of laughter and sparkles, I felt on cloud 9 to have my work included in such a grand home and personal collection.

I returned to Northwest Arkansas in July for the opening reception of Megan Chapman and Stewart Bremner’s exhibition, a place called home. This beautiful body of work is a collaboration between the two artists and a exploration of concept of home. I highly recommend taking a look here. The three of us traveled to Hot Springs, Arkansas to do art business with our galleries. I delivered new work to Justus Fine Art Gallery and was extremely excited to learn that two pieces sold a few days later!

July brought temperatures of over 100 degrees F to the Kansas City area. Every day I kept thinking it would cool off tomorrow. It didn’t and it hasn’t. I do have a portable air conditioner at the studio, which has become my new best friend, but it can only manage about 10 degrees of cooling off, which normally would be great, but 90 is still too hot to work, so I’ve spent most of the month working on computer related things. One day, I ignored the heat and toured most of the art galleries in Kansas City.

It has been an exciting year so far. Especially rewarding is getting to know the incredible people who collect my work. One couple told me they were giving this piece, Violet Surrender, to each other for their anniversary present. It now hangs in their bedroom. I love that.

Another collector wrote this as a response to my thank you note: “We want you to know we are thrilled to have your work in our collection. And we hope to purchase more in the future as we both feel your special pieces are not only unique, but truly beautiful. We see YOU in them! Your kind nature, your passion, your training, your expertise, your love of nature itself, your spontaneity! Thank you for the work you do, and that you share it with others. We are the lucky ones!”

Lucky? Blessed? I am grateful everyday for the opportunities I have to travel and make art and enjoy the many wonderful people in my life. I’ve chased the shadows away for now…and I’m looking forward to what the future will bring.

I’m sorry for the delay in my blog posting, but now that I’ve gotten you all caught up I would love it if you join me again next week when I travel to Peter’s Valley for a textile dyeing workshop.